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So what your saying is I spend 1k to make $50? In order to sell singles and whatnot. Plus, I have no source of income, thus I cannot just simply buy a collection and turn a profit on it. and as a bonus, there is NO lgs here in this freaking town, and no players save a select few. This would all be done on the net correct? Btw, look at the craigslist for Kingman, Arizona and you will see what I mean. I would have to travel to Fort Mohave, and hour drive to look at a collection. Ugh. Ack.

I mean, I am starting with nothing...I just want to build it up like someone who has done it before, you.

and Yes, please email details on what to look for. Ebay, sites, tournaments etc.

Thanks!

EDITED: Spelling errors. :P

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I'm headed to sleep soon but I'll continue tomorrow or do it via e-mail.

The thing is, I did start with $2k worth of stuff, so you do have to start with something. I did this one summer years ago (I think it was about 2006-07) and borrowed $400 from my mom to buy an unl. Lotus for $400 which I flipped for $600 and then kept on with that funds and eventually paid her back. But I also had about $500-600 worth of cards in my personal collection that I sold to raise funds too.

You said your collection is worth approx $100... it would take longer--the start-up is the hardest part. But you can take that $100 and, for example, buy two $50 cards that you flip for $60. Then you have $120 to play with. And so on. You just need to be REALLY careful not to do any bad deals when you're that low on money; you don't need to take any bad risks, there are enough opportunities out there. I generally looked for about 20-25% in profit, that way if something didn't sell at market price I can always lower it and still make a profit, albeit lower (10-15%). When you're starting that low you also need to be REALLY PATIENT and realize that $20 in profit is actually a lot when you only have $100! Work with %s rather than absolute numbers if it makes you feel better.

If you're really looking for insight on how to build a collection from a low starting point, you can't be looking for that big score right away. You have to do things like trading junk uncommons for staple commons, which you can trade up for better uncommons or low-value rares... trade those for more stock, etc. It's almost a retail principle, really. Keep your stock moving and make many instances of smaller profit margins as you go (although sometimes you will take a small loss in monetary value to trade into something easier to sell).

Also, I never said I found a deal like a Revised set for $250... I said $500, and I've done it more than once. I even had a chance to score one at $450 once but I didn't have the money on hand so I had to pass But yes, you can pretty easily sell the dual lands from a Revised set for about $600 or more, if the conditions are good. Underground Sea can fetch $125 by itself in NM condition, with Tundra selling for $90-100. Trop and Volc Islands will get you another $60-80 each... the rest are easy sales at $50-60 (or a bit more) a shot. That's $450-500 without even trying, and you can usually dump the Demonic Tutor, Wheel of Fortune, Sol Ring, Wrath of God, Fork, Counterspell, and Elemental Blasts for a bit each. Sometimes people will even buy the basic lands, and the rest can be dumped via bulk sales.

oh wai-- I did that a few pages ago

Does anyone else think of MOTL as a digital embodiment of Metallica's "Unforgiven"?

New blood joins this board
And quickly he's subdued
Through constant pain disgrace
The newbie learns our rules

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Originally posted by AtriumXP:It's probably also worth mentioning that most of my deals here are for less than $100 a shot. I only have one mega deal from this site... although it was a $2200 sale that included something like 20 of my dual lands, a playset of the Zendikar fetches, and a playset of Jace 2.0s, among other things. That was sold under [i]value Another small suggestion to getting starting capitol or trade stock is to attend drafts where you keep what you draft, and try to zone in on the money rares. I've also played in (and even organized) many drafts where the rares go into a pool, and the players pick from the pool in order of their standing from the draft results (winner picks first, and so on). Picked up a lot of good stuff that way and the bonus is you get to play!

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__________________
Motl member since November 1, 2000

Your 2008 and 2010 Motl Siskel & Ebert award winner!

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quote:

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Originally posted by revenger:
No lgs here. closest one is 2 and half hours away.(Las Vegas) . and yes, I can flip cards, but u got to have the cArds to flip. take a look @ my h/w list. ugh ack.

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No local trade pool is what is killing you, your H/W list looks like what mine was ~5 months ago, it's probably closer to 3-4k, maybe higher haven't really added it all up...

Maybe try getting something local, group of people getting together, go from there.

Otherwise it will take a lot of work to turn what you have into a small time card dealer.

Basically finding anything you have that will sell for profit on ebay, and then just saving funds until you can start looking for collections or deals.

students protests everyday
anarchists taking advantage of the situation to break stuffs
Many other social groups protests
Mass arrests
Universities forced to cancel classes because of security issues

quote:

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Originally posted by AlmostGrown:
Getting back on topic, is it safe to just throw out old cell phones?

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depending on the model, you might find somewhere to buy it from you. There are recyling things online that lowball you to death, but if you're wanting to throw it out...
Check on ebay under the "sell" link and then click "sell it for me" and you should be able to navigate from there and see if it has any value.

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Originally posted by Jazaray:
How do you find these though? I mean, do you really just sit and watch Ebay? How do you find local deals? Just hanging out at your LGS? How did you get started with this?

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I've been doing this recently locally. I have an ad on craigs list. I'll make an offer on anything of value locally, even if it isn't always the best offer. I also have shops that don't mind if I buy in there locally so thats a bonus. Its gotten to the point that people know if they want to sell cards they get in contact with me. If they're looking for something often they contact me before looking at the stores because I'm certainly willing to trade. I'll take cards from them that I can sell for $1 and trade for bigger cards. If you trade a bunch of timely reinforcements, go for the throats, and a few innistrad lands for a snapcaster, there is a pretty good chance you go back to that person for future deals because it doesn't feel like you got rid of much even though I took ~$25 in cards. Its obviously a bit of work on my part, but thats the reason there is a profit involved.

Also, I would like to point out I feel you're are slightly biased in Tom's favor. I don't care about anything either way, but you sure seem to be fairly defensive about anyone's post about him, including the BTA. Did you PM hoosk a link to gen discuss when people started talking about his BTA case here? Being a mod people assume no bias since you are judge and jury in the BTA forum. I don't feel your ruling is wrong, I just feel you do show a bias is all.

quote:

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Originally posted by revenger:
Please enlighten me. My collection is worth approx $100, have no funds to make it better.

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you aren't the target audience for any trading/buying advice. You have nothing to trade and can't buy cards, I'd say get a job that allows you some disposable income ;p

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Originally posted by tommartell:

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quote:

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Originally posted by revenger:take a look @ my h/w list. ugh ack.[/B]

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The main point is this. I spent a very good deal of time checking every e-bay auction (not Buy it Nows) for those Vintage foils, to make sure I was pricing them right. And I am pretty sure that I didn't take the highest one to end and use that price, which is what Tom seems to suggest and flat out try to call me on.

Now, as for what was offered to me. Almost every single one was less than every ending auction on e-bay, some being 25% or more less than my asking price. If I wanted to net that low of a number, I would sell on e-bay. My only point to Tom and what made me make my comment, is that people will buy at the same price regardless of what overhead and fees the seller has to pay. That should have no bearing on what a buyer is willing to pay and for some reason Tom didn't appear to comprehend it, so much so that Stu had to say the same thing to him.

Just to a couple of specific points:
Lord Crovax - Yes, but I don't have the overhead of a brick and mortar. MOTL is like 98% of my sales, so most of my costs are shipping and PayPal fees.
Jaz/all - I didn't even know he posted a BTA case, so that was never a part of anything.

__________________
MOTL's Most Likely to Play in the Pro Tour - 2007, 2008, and 2009
(My 2008 Nationals)

@mab - yep, there's already been a prior discussion about selling/buying at eBay prices on a thread that's since been closed and I agree 100%. It's not like the sellers here that sell at eBay prices (as opposed to asking for SCG prices, anyway) aren't able to sell their stuff such that a flat 15% discount on everything is warranted. I know for a fact you get enough sales without having to lower your prices, there's just absolutely no reason to.

Also eBay's not actually that terrible, we're all taking average eBay prices where if you happen to have a top-rated seller account (which also gets you 20% off fees if you follow some guidelines), enough feedback, and/or are willing to ship internationally, you can get HIGHER than average eBay prices for your stuff. You can basically get eBay prices * 1.12 for your cards, which nets you roughly eBay value, even after fees.

quote:

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Originally posted by caquaa:
Also, I would like to point out I feel you're are slightly biased in Tom's favor.

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Sorry, but i can't resist:

Who is this Tom guy...lol

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Originally posted by revenger:
Anybody have an United States quarter of New Jersey that can trade to me for a couple crap rares? it's for a friends collection.

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quote:

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Originally posted by caquaa:

Also, I would like to point out I feel you're are slightly biased in Tom's favor. I don't care about anything either way, but you sure seem to be fairly defensive about anyone's post about him, including the BTA. Did you PM hoosk a link to gen discuss when people started talking about his BTA case here? Being a mod people assume no bias since you are judge and jury in the BTA forum. I don't feel your ruling is wrong, I just feel you do show a bias is all.

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Wow. I would have thought that my years on here would have shown that I do NOT show bias to anyone. I suppose I should be used to being accused of it, it happens when people can't admit they are wrong, or disagree with a ruling or decision or whatnot. No, I didn't send a message to hoosk, because he had already beaten me there. I did have several PMs with him about the situation, encouraging him not to let everything get him down. I have, however, contacted other people before about threads that they are mentioned in.

As for the BTA aspect, I was more upset that bagkokk said that new members shouldn't post BTA cases, and that those that do are somehow problematic in his eyes, regardless of the validity of their case.

quote:

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Originally posted by Brainstorm37:
Sorry, but i can't resist:

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Way to take things out of context. Care to post the REST of that twitter chain? (I'll admit, I'm still new to actually using twitter and can't figure out how to find it myself) Aside from the fact.. am I not ALLOWED to have a favorite pro player? Yes, I frequent (and moderate) his stream (THANKS THROR! ) as well as AJ Sacher's, I also watch Brad Nelson's stream, and Brian Kibler's stream as well as several others.. Yes, if they are all streaming at the same time, the stream I will go to is Tom's. I do like his best of all, I like the music he plays, I like his play style and I think he does a great job at explaining his picks and plays and freely admits if he's made an error. He's nice to the watchers and a pretty funny guy to boot.

I guess that, in the end, if you guys decide that I'm biased, that's your opinion and you're entitled to it. I learned a long time ago that people will see what they want to see, and nothing you can do will change their minds.

Thanks,
Jazaray

__________________
A Plastered Dragon Original Limerick:
There was a nice lassie named Jaz
Many wished to have what she has,
A delicate face,
A soft warm embrace,
And a whole lot of bedroom pizzazz.

WeedIan: Jazaray is like MOTL's Mom.

quote:

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Originally posted by caquaa:
[B]
[quote]
you aren't the target audience for any trading/buying advice. You have nothing to trade and can't buy cards, I'd say get a job that allows you some disposable income ;p

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I'm on disability with a fixed income for a family of 7. Employment is not an option if a doctor says not to work. Sorry, I take offense to this post of yours.

~Revenger

__________________
Motl member since November 1, 2000

Your 2008 and 2010 Motl Siskel & Ebert award winner!

37th in refs on Motl!

First in refs in state of Arizona!

quote:

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Originally posted by Lord Crovax:
No local trade pool is what is killing you, your H/W list looks like what mine was ~5 months ago, it's probably closer to 3-4k, maybe higher haven't really added it all up...

Maybe try getting something local, group of people getting together, go from there.

Otherwise it will take a lot of work to turn what you have into a small time card dealer.

Basically finding anything you have that will sell for profit on ebay, and then just saving funds until you can start looking for collections or deals.

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I totally agree with you. No local lgs is always been killing me here in this rut of a town. Back in Michigan, I went to the lgs, ransacked the local common bins and low and behold! Lions Eye Diamond for .25 (total was .31 cents with tax.) I said I'd take it. I do get lucky once in a while. But that is far and few between.

__________________
Motl member since November 1, 2000

Your 2008 and 2010 Motl Siskel & Ebert award winner!

37th in refs on Motl!

First in refs in state of Arizona!

quote:

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Originally posted by AtriumXP:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by revenger:take a look @ my h/w list. ugh ack.

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I did, but I think you overlooked my post or turned down my offer. I don't have much you were looking for at the moment so I offered to throw in some cash... probably not enough for what I was seeking, lol. Which perfectly illustrates the point I was trying to make... I assumed you weren't interested in making a counter-offer, or asking for more dough, so I let it lie rather than harass you about how easily I could get this stuff from other sources

Yes, I overlooked it. My apologies. But I am/wasnt looking for cash. I am a trading at heart.

quote:

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Originally posted by AtriumXP:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by revenger:
Anybody have an United States quarter of New Jersey that can trade to me for a couple crap rares? it's for a friends collection.

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Still, it's yours if you want it; just pass me a mailing address and I'll PWE it to ya.[/QUOTE]

I will text her and find out if that would be satisfactory. She has em all cept that state. I'll get back at ya. Cool?

~Revenger

__________________
Motl member since November 1, 2000

Your 2008 and 2010 Motl Siskel & Ebert award winner!

37th in refs on Motl!

First in refs in state of Arizona!

quote:

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Originally posted by Tranderas:
How well did that go a few pages ago, Josh?

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It didn't burst through your skull to drop knowledge on your brain as I had intended (that's my e-peen, in case you weren't sure what imagery I was going for), so I guess it failed. I hope your resignation saddens you as much as it does me.

quote:

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Originally posted by revenger:
I will text her and find out if that would be satisfactory. She has em all cept that state. I'll get back at ya. Cool?

~Revenger[/B]

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quote:

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Originally posted by revenger:
I'm on disability with a fixed income for a family of 7. Employment is not an option if a doctor says not to work. Sorry, I take offense to this post of yours.

~Revenger

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Then I'd go with my suggestion of trying to get some local running, either that or sell what you have and play the Ebay market, it is possible, using the Zend Fetch example, they are 8-10 each, and I often see BIN's at 5-7 each, not a huge profit, but profit all the same.